The following is a message posted on the EAP website prior to Juneteenth. While Juneteenth has since passed, the work to stand up against racism continues. This post contains a number of anti-racism resources to continue this work.
At the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), we want acknowledge the pain and impact to our community related to current, historical, and systemic racism and violence against Black Americans and people of color, and we recognize that racism not only exists in these obviously painful ways but also through implicit bias. The EAP staff is committed to creating equity and justice and to continuing to do our own work to stand up against racism. We recognize that these experiences as well as those related to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic are impacting many faculty and staff in complex and traumatic ways.
Juneteenth commemorates when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865 and when the Emancipation Proclamation was enforced and put into effect in Texas. Interim President Hartzell suggested employees reflect and engage in activities related to this important day. The EAP offers these resources to help guide you today and beyond as we listen to, learn from, and support one another:
- Nourishing Ourselves Against the Impact of Historic, Systemic Racial Trauma
- How to Support Black Colleagues
- “Notice the Rage, Notice the Silence” podcast